Traveling with Jett

I recently returned from a multi-state, multi-stop road trip. As fun and exciting as it was for me to catch up with family and friends along the way, the same could not always be said by my traveling companion. Jett, my 2 year old black lab mix, was a real trooper, but he found the trip somewhat challenging. He even wrote about it in his journal. The following is an excerpt:

Don’t know what’s going on, but mom is acting weirder than usual. Piling clothes on the bed, then putting them in weird little boxes with handles. Last time she did that Sally and I ended up staying at that place where there were all those other dogs. As a matter of fact, she just loaded Sal in the car and took her someplace. Wonder why she forgot me?

Mom put my toys and water bowl in the back of the car and told me to get in. Guess we’re going for a walk, but why is there so much stuff in the car I can’t see mom’s head?

This is the longest I have ever been in the car — we stop, stretch, pee, and climb back in. Finally mom says with a sigh “We’re here”. But I’m just not sure where here is — there are way too many strange people, a couple of cool dogs, and some cats. Mom calls it Omaha. I’m tired, hot, hungry, and then I see a great little swimming hole surrounded by plants, so I dive in. Wow! Talk about humans getting excited! Apparently it was for goldfish only — what a waste! So they dry me off and mom says it’s time for bed, only now she takes me to these really scary things called stairs. Hard for a four legged critter like me to negotiate, and we have to go up to the very top of the house, mom says three floors. All I know is that she ends up half carrying my back end up the last few. But at least these humans are dog people, and they have no objection to me sleeping on the bed with mom, just like back home.

Going down the next morning is even more challenging — my rear picks up more speed than my front, and I tumble into the hallway very ungracefully. All these people are confusing me, so every time one of them walks into the room or onto the patio where mom and I already are, I give a warning bark. They sure have funny names, mom is always saying “Jett, it’s Just Robert, or Just Don, or Just Ben…..” But then things get a lot better. I’m loaded up in another car with Ben (I do remember him, he’s mom’s human son), Rachael, and mom, and we go to something called a Farmers Market. There are people everywhere, as well as some dogs. Mom says she’s very proud of me, I was hardly scared at all.

After that we pick up the other dogs, Lola and Judy, and head to a dog park. It is my first time, and I have to say, it rocks! There are dogs everywhere, and places to run, play, drink water, or just sit in the shade. Lola and Judy like to hang out by Rachael, but I’m taking full advantage of meeting all these other dogs. Only one is a little rude, and takes offense to my sniffing, but we are told he is a first timer too.

A few days later, mom piles some of those boxes back in the car — she leaves a lot behind for Ben and Rachael, so it’s easier to see her head now! This drive doesn’t last as long as the first one, and I like that when mom stops for lunch she shares it with me. Next stop is my Aunt Karen’s, in a place called Illinois, and I meet my cousin Rocky. He has a cool, great big yard to run and play in, but mom says Rocky is getting too old to do much playing. Still, I try to get him going, but he lays down in the shade and ignores me. There are lots of neat smells and plants here, but when I lift my leg to pee, Aunt Karen yells “Not in my herb garden!” whatever that is. More stairs to our bedroom, but I’m getting the hang of them now.

Aunt Karen takes us in her car and we visit my Aunt Barb in Wisconsin next. My dog cousins there, Annie and KC, are way smaller than me, but pretty cool. And I really like their food. We all go to a beach and I get some swim time in — finally! Back at Aunt Karen’s we go to another house for a birthday party. People are eating in the house, on something called a deck, or in the yard. To get to the deck, where my mom is talking to people, there are — you guessed it — a lot of stairs. Everything is going good, I’m hanging out with Phoenix, a feisty dog who keeps chasing me and trying to play football. But then a little girl drops her plate of food — hotdog, shrimp, all sorts of goodies, and Phoenix and I go for it. Only Phoenix doesn’t like to share food and she nips me pretty hard. She gobbles it down so fast she ends up throwing it all back up, but I just go find mom and hang out with her the rest of the night. Everybody is petting me and saying what a good dog I am, but I’m pretty much over it. I wanna go home!

We finally pack the car back up and head home. It is hot, mom says 95 degrees, so we stop pretty often for water and stretching whenever she spots a nice shady area. We stop for the night when a storm moves in, but I can’t sleep and keep barking at the thunder. The last day goes on forever. It’s raining, so we don’t stop too often, and mom keeps saying “almost there, almost there…” but almost sure is a long time getting here.

Our final stop before home is to pick up Sally. She is so excited to see us! She keeps jumping and yelping and sniffing me to find out where I’ve been. Home is wonderful — soft beds, normal feeding schedules, my own back yard… and best of all, no stairs! Mom says I did a good job, traveling over 2600 miles without complaining, adapting to all sorts of situations. I admit I had fun, and I loved being with mom, but it’s true what humans say — “There is no place like home!”